Beginning and How To: Basic Roleplay discussion

A lot of terminology/abbreviations are used in roleplays, particularly in writing out plots. All of the common ones will be defined here.

RP- abbreviation of Roleplay

pm- Private Message
Some people prefer roleplaying through messages rather than a thread and also, in most groups, if you wish to write out any sexually explicit content, you would need to go to pm.

Plot- The Idea that the roleplay is based off of
Plots can be general; such as just a pairing of characters (ex: Street Fighter and Photographer) and then the relationship between characters develops from there and whatever ideas you and your partner decide on can be added in. Or they can be more detailed; explaining an entire start of a story. (See Plots for more details)

Muse A/Muse B or Girl A/Guy A, etc.
These are typically used when writing out plots to take the place of what would eventually become characters. Muses are typically used in a rp that doesn't have a decided gender role for each character where as Girl/Guy fills in the gender of that designated character.

MxF- Character pairing of a male and female
MxM- Character pairing of two males
FxF- Character pairing of two females

OC- Original Character
This is a character that you created and is not copying a character that actually exists in a fandom
Canon Character
This is a character that exists in some fandom world and therefore, when roleplaying with them, they need to closely mimic the actual existing character unless some alterations are discussed with your rp partner/group.

OOC- Out of Character
This is when you are talking out of character. After starting an rp, don't do this unless you clearly mark it, such as by putting it in parentheses (( )). Talking out of character can be used to discuss how to continue the story or to let your partner know you won't be online or to chat as you rp but make sure to clearly separate it.

Face Claim- person in image of character
This isn't always needed or easy to find but if you know the name of the person in the photograph, write them down as your face claim so your rp partner can easily look up that name and find more pictures of your character.